Lasting-machine.



No. 784,251. PATENTED MAR. 7, 1905.

' C. DE MINICO.

LASTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 27,1902.

I 0 Lu I. \/\/|TNES5E5 INVENTEIFL UNITED STATES Patented March 7, i905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES DE MINICO, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEIV JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEIV JERSEY.

LASTlNG-IVIACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 784,251, dated March '7, 1905.

A li ti fil d June 27, 1902. Serial No. 113,497.

To (LZZ [Uh/07)], it 717/1117] concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES DE Mrnioo, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain Improvements in Lasting-Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings representing like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in lasting-machines of the type known as the hand-method lasting-machine, examples of which are illustrated in United States Letters Patent Nos. 584,7 H and 696,717.

In the manufacture of what are known as turn-shoes the shoes are assembled and lasted and have their soles attached while they are inside out and are then turned. The sole is provided with a channel a short distance back from the edge, and it is also customary to reduce the thickness of the marginal portion of the sole by cutting away a part of it, thus forming a thin edge portion, called the feather-edge, and a shoulder. In the last ing operation the upper after having been stretched over the last is folded down on the said reduced portion and secured to the sole by temporary fastenings. The sole and upper are subsequently connected by a line of stitching which passes through the upper and through the between substance, as that portion of the sole is called I. which is intermediate the said shoulder and the channel. It has been found in the lasting operation that in stretching the upper over the last and in pulling it down on the sole ready to receive the temporary fastening device the feather-edge of the sole was liable to be raised from the last and more or less displaced by contact with the upper which was being stretched. This difficulty is increased by the fact that the sole of a turn-shoe is usually larger than the last-bottom in order that when the shoe is turn ed and finished the edge of the sole may extend beyond the upper, as usual. The sole therefore extends beyond or over the edge of the last when the parts of the shoe are assembled preparatory to lasting, and the projecting edge of the sole is particularly liable to be raised from the last by the upper when the latter is being stretched and then drawn over on the face of the sole. The liability of the featheredge being raised or pushed back by the upper is also increased by reason of the fact that the sole of a turn-shoe is usually of particularly flexible material and that it is the practice to moisten the sole before assembling the shoe in order to render the sole yet more flexible, so that the shoe may be turned with greater ease. The soft edge of the feather is therefore easily doubled back toward the shoulder. Another diliiculty is met with when turned shoes are being lasted on machines equipped with reciprocating auxiliary pressers, shown and described in said Letters Patent, for smoothing and pressing the upper down onto the sole and into the angle of union of the feather-edge and shoulder. In the operation of the machine one of these pressers is moved forward over the stretched portion of the upper immediately after the stretching devices have laid said portion of upper down over the sole, and in this forward movement the presser frequently strikes the upper in such a way that it forces the sole back from the edge of the last and also damages the sole somewhat. In order to obviate these difiiculties, I have provided the machine with a member or device adapted to engage the edge of the sole and by such engagement to prevent the displacement of the marginal portion of the sole. In the embodiment of the invention herein shown I have arranged the said device to engage the edge portion of the sole of the shoe being lasted at one side of the point where the tamer-stretching means and the auxiliary presser are operatingnamely, at the side toward which the lasting operation is progressing. This locates the holding device where it does not interfere with the reciprocation of the said presser or with putting in place the means used for temporarily securing the upper in lasted position, and yet close enough to the point where the lasting devices are operating to prevent the displacement of the sole by said devices. I have herein designated this member or device as a downhold and have shown it as consisting of a thin plate of resilient metal movably supported upon the usual rest which is common to this type of machines and against which rest the operator holds the bottom of the shoe during the lasting operation. It is obvious, however, that the downhold may be in other forms than that shown and that it may be supported on any other suitable portion of a lastingmachine instead of on the rest. The downhold is especially useful in lasting the toe portion of the shoe, as it is in going around the toe that the auxiliary pressers are used; but the downhold may also be employed while lasting other portions of the shoe. While the downhold is shown as used in connection with the lasting of turned shoes it is not limited to this use, but may also be employed to advantage in lasting other shoes. Moreover, while I have herein illustrated my downhold as applied to the hand-method lasting-machine, which comprises stretching devices, a rest, reciprocating pressers, and mechanism for applying temporary securing means to hold the upper in lasted position, I do not mean to be understood as limiting my invention to use with a machine equipped with all these mechanisms, as many of the advantages of the invention can be obtained when the downhold is used with machines which do not comprise all these mechanisms, and, further, my invention is not limited to use in machines having the specific forms of the lasting mechanisms herein shown. My invention is therefore not limited to the use of the downhold in any particular machine or to its use in lasting any particular kind of shoes. r In the drawings, Figure 1 shows so much of a lasting-machine with my invention applied thereto as is necessary to disclose the relation of the downhold to the lasting devices. Fig. 2 is a'view similar to Fig. 1 with the downhold in its inoperative position. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the downhold, showing also its relation to the upper-stretching means and the reciprocating presser. Fig. 4: is a sectional view on line I 4 of Fig. 2 to illustrate the construction of the means for locking the downhold against movement.

A indicates a portion of the frame of a lasting-machine having the usual shoe-rest 12 attached thereto. The operator presents the shoe to the machine by holding it up against the shoe-rest, as shown in Fig. 1. The stretching devices 14 16 are actuated to descend and engage the portion of the upper which projects above the sole. The stretching devices then rise, stretching the upper over the last, and finally move toward the center of the last to lay the edge portion of the upper down upon the marginal portion of the sole in position to receive the temporary fastening de- The temporary fastening device which vice.

I prefer to employ when lasting the toe portion of the shoe is a binder consisting of wire,

(shown at w in the drawings.) In beginning the lasting of the toe the free end of the strand of wire is secured to a lasting-tack m, and as the lasting proceeds the wire is placed around the toe portion of the shoe to bind the successive portions of. the upper against the shoulder of the sole. The wire is supplied from a reel and passes through a suitable guide, (indicated at 60.) In lasting other portions of the shoe than the toe portion lastingtacks are usually employed instead of the wire for securing the upper to the sole. These are driven by the driver from the usual tackcarrier 40. (Shown in Fig. 1.) In this operation of stretching the upper and laying it down upon the sole it frequently happens that the feather-edge of the sole, particularly if it projects beyond the edge of the last, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is displaced by the upper being drawn against it or by the reciprocating presser X striking the upper opposite the edge of the sole, andthereby forcing the edge of the sole back from the edge of the last and sometimes mu tilating the edge of the sole. In order to overcome this difficulty, I provide the device which I term a downhold and which is indicated at 20 on the drawings. The downhold is designed to rest upon the featheredge of the sole adjacent the point at which the lasting is taking place, as shown in Fig. 1. The downhold 20 is shown as a thin springplate movably mounted in a guideway on the shank of the rest 12, although the downhold may be of'any other suitable construction and supported in any desired way. I prefer, however, to arrange the downhold and rest for relative yielding movements to enable them to adapt themselves to variations in the relative positions of the surfaces engaged by these parts. Adjusting mechanism is provided by which the downhold may be moved into or out of operative position by sliding it with relation to the rest. For this purpose the shank of the downhold is provided at 21 with rackteeth conveniently made by cutting out portions of the plate constituting said shank.

The shank of the rest 12 has a downwardlyextended shoulder or lug 12, on which is mounted a pinion 22 in position to engage the rack formation 21 on the downhold. The pinion 22 has an operating-handle 23 pivoted at 2 1 between ears on the pinion. The handle 23 has a short extension 23 beyond its pivot. The extension 23 is received ina notch in the head of a locking-pin 25. The

engage in any one of a plurality of recesses 26 formed in the shoulder 12, whereby to lock said pinion and fasten the downhold in adjusted position. Two of these recesses 26 are shown by which the downhold is locked in either its operative or its inoperative posilocking-pin is movable through an opening in the pinion 22, and its lower end is adapted to tion; but of course others might be provided for locking it in intermediate positions. A spring-pressed pin 28, socketed in the handle 23, serves to hold said handle normally raised and said locking-pin in one of the recesses 26. By this means the downhold can be moved into operative position and locked in such position so long as it is desired to employ it, and it can then be adjusted to inoperative position and there locked until it is again re quired for use. The lower portion of the downhold is deflected laterally at 30, so as to be located at one side of the median line of the rest 12 and at one side of the reciprocating presser X, where it will be out of the path of said presser. This deflection of the downhold also places it in advance of the point at which the section of the upper being lasted is to be secured by the binder or the tack, if tacks are used. The lower end of the downhold is shaped to conform to the surface of. the marginal portion ofthe sole. For this purpose it is provided with a portion 20, adapted to bear upon the feather, and an upwardly curved portion 20 to overlie the shoulder of the sole. The downhold is thin, so that it does not interfere with the proper positioning of the upper on the sole by the lasting devices, and while it is arranged to bear on the feather-edge of the sole far enough at one side of the point where the grippers and presser operate to place it out of the way of said devices it bears on the feather close to the edge of the sole, which may be, as before explained. outside the edge of the last and sufficiently close to the point where there is greatest friction between the portion of the upper being lasted and the sole to effectually hold the edge of the sole from being raised or crowded inwardly. The downhold remains in operative position for holding the edge of the inner sole securely during successive operations of the lasting-machine, and when it is not needed it can be very readily moved into inoperative position by the operating-handle and secured in such position by the locking device which is operated by said handle.

I believe that I am the first to provide a lasting-machine with means to engage the edge of the sole outside of the usual rib or shoulder to prevent displacement of the edge portion of the sole by the upper being lasted or by the lasting devices, and I therefore desire to claim the invention broadly.

Having explained the purpose and functions of my improved downhold and having shown one embodiment thereof in a machine. although without attempting to disclose all the forms in which it may be arranged and employed, what I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lasting-machine, the combination with means for working an upper over a last, of a downhold having a portion shaped to overlie the shoulder or rib of the sole of a shoe being lasted and a portion formed to bear upon the marginal portion of the sole outside said shoulder or rib and at one side of the said upper-working means.

2. Ina lasting-macl'iine, a movably-supported member adapted to engage the featheredge of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent displacement thereof during the lasting operation and means under the control of the operator for moving said member into and out of operative position.

3. In a lasting-machine, a device to engage the marginal portion of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent displacement thereof, said device having a portion shaped to bear upon the feather and a portion shaped to overlie the shoulder of the sole 4. In a lasting-machine, means to engage the marginal portion of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent displacement thereof during the lasting operation, in combination with mechanism under the control of the op erator for rendering said means operative or inoperative.

5. The combination with a shoe-rest for use in a lasting-machine, of means for stretching the shoe-upper, and a downhold arranged to bear upon the feather of the sole of the shoe being lasted to prevent displacement of the edge portion of said feather during the lasting operation.

6. The combination with a shoe-rest for use in a machine for lasting turn-shoes, of a downhold arranged for adjustment toward and from position to bear upon the feather-edge of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent displacement of said edge of the sole during the lasting operation. I

7. The combination with a shoe-rest for use in a lasting-machine, of a downhold movably mounted upon said rest, and cooperating adjusting mechanism carried by the rest and downhold, by means of which the downhold may be projected into position to bear upon the marginal portion of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent its displacement during the lasting operation.

8. The combination with a shoe-rest for use in a lasting-machine, of a downhold movably. mounted upon said rest, means to project said downhold into position to engage the marginal portion of the sole of a shoe being lasted during the lasting operation, and means to lock said downhold in adjusted position.

9. The combination with a shoe-rest for use in a lasting-machine, of a downhold movably mounted upon said rest, cooperating mechanism carried by said rest and downholdfor adjusting said downhold to and from position to engage the marginal portion of the sole of a shoe being lasted to prevent displacement of said marginal portion of the sole, and means to lock said downhold in adjusted position.

10. In a lasting-machine, the combination with means for working an upper over a last,

said means comprising a reciprocating presser, of a device mounted in front of said presser and deflected to one side of its path of movement to engage the edge portion of the sole of the shoe being lasted at a point adjacent to the path of said presser.

11. In a lasting-machine the combination with means for working an upper over a last, said means comprising a reciprocating presser, of a shoe-rest arranged to engage the sole of the shoe being lasted at a point in front of said presser, and a downhold adapted to en gage the edge portion of the sole at one side of the path of movement of said reciprocating presser.

12. The combination with ashoe-rest anda downhold movable with relation thereto, of means for adjusting said downhold and locking it in adjusted position, said means comprising a rack on one of said parts, a pinion on the other, operating means for said pinion, and a locking device carried by said operating means to lock said pinion against movement.

13. In a machine forlasting shoes, the combination with means for Working an upper over a last, and a rest for engaging the sole to position the shoe, of a downhold connected with the rest for engaging the feather-edge of the sole to prevent displacement of the edge of the sole during the lasting operation.

14. In a machine for lasting shoes, the combination with means for working an upper over a last, and a rest for engaging the-sole to position the shoe, of a yielding downhold mounted on the rest and extending beyond position the shoe, of a downholdfor engaging I the feather-edge of the sole to prevent displacement of the edge-du ring the lasting operation, said rest and downhold being arrangedfor relative yielding movement to enablethem to adapt themselves to the uneven surfaces engaged by them.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to the specification in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES DE MINIGO.

Witnesses:

E. L. KEYES, W. A. SIMONTON. 

